Mango Travel Diary: When I was passing through Fuzhou, Jiangxi, some netizens recommended me to visit Liukeng Village, saying that it was known as the "first village in the ages". This overbearing title really aroused my interest, so I decided to go and see why this village was called the "first village in the ages"? Whether it is worthy of the name.
the first village through the ages
liukeng village is located in niutian town, lean county, Fuzhou city, Jiangxi province, 38 kilometers away from the county seat, and there is a shuttle bus to the passenger station. On the road, you will pass a memorial archway, which reads "the first village in the ages". There is a gray car parked next to the memorial archway. After waiting for a long time, there is no sign of movement, so you can only take pictures.
Before entering the village, there was a tourist service center. An old man was chatting with the security guard at the door, and there was no one inside. I went in and waited for a long time before the old man came in and asked me what I wanted. I said buy tickets. I bought the tickets and continued to walk in the village. Later, I realized that I could actually go in without buying tickets.
little sister, do you want a guide?
There is a big tree at the entrance of the village, which is said to be dead and in spring. There is a canteen and a restaurant next to it. When I was taking pictures, a voice next to it sounded: Little sister, you are here for a tour, right? Do you want a tour guide? I turned around and saw a woman in her thirties and forties. I smiled and said no.
she said, do you want to have dinner in my shop first? Pointing to a nearby restaurant, I shook my head again and said I was not hungry. She said, well, I'll be your tour guide, free of charge, and you can come to my shop for dinner after shopping. I still shook my head and said no, I want to go shopping by myself. I want to take pictures and go shopping slowly. She said, then you take your time and go down from here. I waved and walked on.
I'm a little disappointed
Walking away from the big tree at the entrance to the village, there is a round stone pier. When I look closer, it's a grave with the inscription "Dong Shi X-ancestor". Later, I have seen several similar graves. Not far from the graveyard, I saw a memorial archway with the inscription "Shuangshoufang", next to which was a sign saying "Gaoping Villa". It was said that it was built by the local gentry Dong Fanchang (No.Gaoping), which was built during the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty. The existing building was rebuilt by its descendants in the light years of the Qing Dynasty. Now it is a family shrine dedicated to Dong Fanchang, and the gate is closed.
there is a stone bridge next to gaoping villa, which leads to the opposite side, and there are also some buildings on the opposite side, which looks nothing special. If Liukeng Village is just like this, I am a little disappointed.
After crossing the bridge, I walked on, and found an alley covered with bluestones. As I walked in, the building became more and more quaint, but the road was covered with mud, stones and bricks, and it seemed to be rebuilding the road. There were colorful oil-paper umbrellas hanging from my head, which seemed a bit abrupt in this silent Gu Xiang, and almost no pedestrians were seen on the road.
Opened a door of history
Walking through Gu Xiang, I saw a piece of broken walls in front of me. In this cold rainy day, the bayberry basked in the dustpan was forgotten. The more you go inside, the more quaint it is, as if you opened a door to history, and the vicissitudes of life came to your face.
I passed several ancestral temples, which looked very magnificent for a certain period of time, but there was no introduction. According to a shopkeeper next to me, these are small ancestral temples, so there is no maintenance and no introduction. Go on, there are many big ancestral temples, and there are introductions next to them. To tell the truth, this nameless little ancestral temple is more stylish and chronological than many ancestral temples I have seen, and the sculptures on the doors are also very exquisite.
Huaide Hall
Following the tourist guide card, we finally came to Huaide Hall, with Shangyi Gate written on the door and Huaide Hall written on the lobby inside. Huaide Hall is one of the most famous buildings in Liukeng Village. It was built at the beginning of Wanli in Ming Dynasty. Its owner was Dong Guoju, a Confucian businessman in Liukeng, and he studied under Luo Rufang. The word "Huaide Hall" was written by Luo Rufang.
The most interesting thing about Huaide Hall is the brick mural on the zhaobi in front of the hall. There are three paintings on the left, middle and right, depicting "sparrow (Jue), deer (Lu), bee (Feng) and monkey (Hou)". In the middle of the painting, it is written by Luo Rufang.
After coming out of Whitehall, the buildings on both sides are more and more quaint. The houses here are simple in appearance, but exquisite in decoration, integrating brick, wood, stone carving (carving), ink painting, painting and calligraphy. The components such as wood carving, wood carving, sparrow replacement, diagonal bracing, doors and windows, and lattice fan have all been carefully carved. I occasionally passed by one or two villagers when I was taking pictures, gave me a curious look, smiled and continued to pass by.
I ran into a villager
I passed a building, and the door was open. I heard there was a speech field inside. I reached in and took a look. I saw two villagers chatting, one was drawing water and the other was standing on the other side. I greeted him and smiled. They also smiled and let me sit in.
This is an enclosed building with a big yard in the middle. There are several families living around it. An old woman sits at the door of a house next to me. When she sees me, she smiles and babbles in words I don't understand. I guess she wants me to stay for lunch. I smile, wave goodbye and come out to continue roaming.
At last, I arrived at Hanlin Building, only to see an old woman coming out of the gatehouse with an umbrella. The Hanlin Building was built in the Ming Dynasty and rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty. It is not only a watchtower for defense, but also a building to commemorate the compilation and renovation of the Hanlin Academy in the early Ming Dynasty and Dong Yan, the secretary of imperial academy.
The word "Hanlin" is engraved on the upper part of the front of Hanlin Building, and the horizontal plaque below reads "Less companies become the first", which was inscribed by Zaifu Yang Shiqi in the Ming Dynasty. On both sides, there are brick engravings of "several imperial edicts from the right emperor, teachers of contemporary emperors". On the back, the book "Enrong" was engraved in brick, and the book "Shengshi Jinglun" was inscribed by Zou Xuezhu, a political scientist in Jiangxi.
The most beautiful rain lane
Go through Hanlin Building, turn left and come to the ruins of Sipailou. Next to it is a tall and eye-catching building, with four columns, three rooms and three floors, with a red stone "imperial edict" vertical plaque embedded on the top, with the words "Chen Shi, the wife of Dong Chaojie, the wife of a scholar who shows filial piety" engraved in the middle, and the words "Jiexiaofang" below.
The site of Sipailou is the most beautiful place in Liukeng Village. The original sharp bluestone road has been polished smooth and round by years, and the mottled wall exudes the vicissitudes of life. The deep and deep rain lane seems to lead to the end of time. At the end of time, it seems that someone is waiting with a red lantern.
at the end of the rain lane is the ancestral hall of Dong Gui, a famous Neo-Confucianism scholar. On both sides of the gate are two majestic stone lions of the Ming Dynasty, which are covered with glass. I was a little hungry after walking around, so I couldn't find a restaurant around, so I asked people all the way back to my sister's restaurant at the village entrance and ordered two dishes. My sister asked me how my visit was going, only after a chat did I know that I was not in the middle of it, and there were still many alleys and buildings that I didn't visit.
But after this circle, I have changed my mind about Liukeng Village. This "first village through the ages" is truly worthy of the name. First of all, it has a long history. It was built during the Southern Tang Dynasty of the Five Dynasties, and it is a thousand years ago. Secondly, the buildings are well preserved, with more than 26 ancient buildings and sites in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The genealogy of the third family tree is well preserved, and the plaques of the buildings are well preserved, which makes most of the ancient buildings in the village have an accurate construction date.
What I like most is that it's not commercialized, it's very quiet, and there are few tourists. I prefer Liukeng Village to Hongcun Village. Although the scenery is not as good as Hongcun Village, it has the original simple appearance of an ancient village.
About the author: Mango, female, from Guangdong, likes to travel alone (not rich second generation, every penny spent on travel is earned by hard work), and has been to Thailand, Semporna, Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia and other countries, Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Tianjin, Beijing, Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou.